About Page to Stage

Page to Stage is a not-for-profit organisation that was established to provide a platform for new theatrical writing. While not yet a registered charity, Page to Stage has quite clear charitable aims:

We are dedicated to the promotion of creative talent in the Merseyside and throughout the UK, with emphasis on script, and to providing equitable opportunity for the talents of the professional theatre community in Merseyside and beyond.

Through our Festival of new writing we seek to empower our participants and provide an industry respected showcase to further their careers.

We seek to support artists’ professional development, collaborate with other like-minded organisations and work towards the creation of opportunities in the theatrical community.

The Festival

Page to Stage has established a new annual festival that will run in the first quarter of each year (the first one was in September 2014 and it was quickly discovered to be the wrong time of year). A number of venues in Liverpool will host a number of performances of up to ten one-act-plays (selected from open submissions), some commissioned works, workshops, talks and panel discussions over the course of two weeks.

Page to Stage is connected to a broader network of arts organisations, including its partner organisations – Merseyside Script Initiative and MSI Presents, theatres, theatre companies, training organisations, other festivals and arts organisations. It also has connections to a wide network of theatre professionals.

History

Between 2010 and 2013, a much needed theatre festival had been established in Liverpool. Running on a similar model to Manchester’s 24/7 festival, The Write Now Festival provided a platform for new writing talent, showcasing up to ten new one-act plays each year. Sadly, the festival closed it’s doors with an announcement in January 2014

After much deliberation, John Mc decided that it was his duty to establish another festival that would fill the vacuum left by the announcement. He had the skills and the contacts to make it happen; he had been involved in the festivals previously; he had experience of running other festivals, including the 0151 Film Festival in 2013.

His first task was to find a name for the festival. He polled his own twitter followers (@JohnMc_Lpool) and asked them to vote for their favourite name for the festival. More than fifty percent of those who responded selected “Page to Stage Festival” from a list of about ten suggestions.

On 15th January, the Facebook group (Pagetostage) was launched, attracting over 500 members in the first week; late came the Facebook Page. This was followed with a twitter account (@P2S_Festival) and registered domain names including www.pagetostage.org.uk.

Developing and building on the successful elements of the previous festivals, the Page to Stage Festival aims to stage ten new one-act plays up to five times in a number of venues over a two week period in March/April 2016 (dates to be confirmed). We will also have special events, such as productions by local theatre companies, writer’s workshops, presentations by local writer’s groups and an award ceremony.

Please join us and help us put the Page to Stage on the festival map and build on the cultural excellence of the great city that is Liverpool.